There’s something that doesn’t quite add up in Reuven Israel’s work. Stepping around his new sculptures – now showing at Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, it’s as if you’ve seen them somewhere before. The works look back at you almost as inquiringly as you try to figure them out.
The Jerusalem-born, long-time Brooklyn-dwelling Israel has looked to many different areas for inspiration for his first solo appearance in the city, such as, 'various forms of spacecrafts, antennas, and ritualised structures and objects of the past – temples, pottery, instruments and weapons.' It’s not the form of those things that is recognisable in the work, though. 'Often, when I work on sculptures I’m not thinking of specific places, objects, or events, but rather their implied cultural meanings,' the artist explains, as he unveiled the exhibition, titled 'As Above, So Below'.
To get too much into his specific references would spoil the fun, but he does reveal that Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s 1971 sci-fi novel, Roadside Picnic, an account of events after a visit by extraterrestrials that is only discovered thanks to the objects they left behind, was on his mind. 'I like for my sculptures to be encountered as autonomous objects, without being linked to a known source. I want them to hint to a utilitarian function, but one that is not specific or decoded,' Israel says. It explains the eerie familiarity his works have. 'Like the objects left by the aliens, with my sculptures the viewer is left to "reverse engineer" the object's implied purpose through form and geometry, all while its unhinged from a specific context.'
This is reflected in the way his sculptures are made, too. Though their polished surfaces appear to be industrially fabricated, with their mass-produced precision, they are in fact totally built by hand, using MDF that Israel cuts, glues, sands and shapes, before embarking on a process of coating with different layers of paints and lacquer, until he achieves their deceptive glossy finish. 'This creates a near perfect surface, which imitates the look of plastic, metal or porcelain.' When his labour intensive process is done, Israel looks forward to standing back and watching the audience react as they try to unravel what’s in front of them – much like the scientists before the alien ephemera in the Strugatskys’ book. 'I want the physicality of the individual pieces to deceive the viewer,' says Israel.
Israel has looked to many different areas for inspiration for his first solo appearance in the city, such as, 'various forms of spacecrafts, antennas, and ritualised structures and objects of the past – temples, pottery, instruments and weapons.' Pictured: At First Blush and Green
Israel revealed that Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s 1971 sci-fi novel, Roadside Picnic, an account of events after a visit by extraterrestrials that is only discovered thanks to the objects they left behind, was on his mind. Pictured: Installation view
'Like the objects left by the aliens, with my sculptures the viewer is left to "reverse engineer" the object's implied purpose through form and geometry, all while its unhinged from a specific context,' says Israel. Pictured: White Collar
Israel's sculptures are in fact totally built by hand, using MDF that Israel cuts, glues, sands and shapes, before embarking on a process of coating with different layers of paints and lacquer, until he achieves their deceptive glossy finish. Pictured: Group and Red Neck
'I want the physicality of the individual pieces to deceive the viewer,' says Israel. Pictured: Black and Blue (left) and Blackout (right)
INFORMATION
'As Above, So Below' is on view until 28 October. For more information, visit the Shulamit Nazarian website
ADDRESS
17 N Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
-
A revamped Edinburgh apartment combines Californian-style modernism with modern craftArcher + Braun have transformed an apartment in a historic house with finely tuned contemporary additions and sympathetic attention to detail
-
Formafantasma’s biodiversity-boosting installation in a Perrier Jouët vineyard is cross-pollination at its bestFormafantasma and Perrier Jouët unveil the first project in their ‘Cohabitare’ initiative, ‘not only a work of art but also a contribution to the ecosystem’
-
Gingerbread City: architects sculpt London out of the season's favourite treatUntil December 29 in Chelsea, see London brought to life in a seasonal-appropriate medium by leading architects and designers
-
Inside the distorted world of artist George RouyFrequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form
-
Sunshine noir is given an unsettling spin in new film ‘Skincare’; meet the directorBest known for music videos, director and writer of ‘Skincare’ Austin Peters on how he created the film’s bright, ominous world
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
The seven best Los Angeles museumsExplore LA's world-class museums, set within architectural masterpieces, lush gardens, and breathtaking viewpoints
-
Olafur Eliasson's new light sculptures illuminate Los AngelesOlafur Eliasson's new exhibition, 'Open,' at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, includes 11 new pieces
-
The lesser-known Los Angeles galleries contributing to a vibrant art sceneOutside of LACMA, MOCA and The Broad, these independent LA galleries are major players in the art world
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Mona Kuhn’s love affair with Rudolph Schindler’s modernist LA home‘The Schindler House: A Love Affair’ features artist Mona Kuhn’s surreal-inspired silver prints evoking an impossible love
